Pipe stem cleaner



June 6, 1950 D. Mcg ET AL 2,510,345

PIPE STEM CLEANER Filed Sept. 24, 1945 Inaeniars Jerri 32% F 0 727:

Patented June 6, 1950 orator.

2,510,345 PIPE: STEM otEANER be WittMcGa-nn marrying Berlin; LosAngeles,-. Calif.

Application September 24, 1945', seriarNostis-me 3-.Glaims. (aural- 245Qiur: invention 1 relates: to a pipe: stern cleaner whichais .used;iorrcleaningsthe. stems. :of tobacco size which. can be conveniently.carried .in the pocket: of: theuusepand; from: which they. canbeeasilyaandquicklyydispensed' one at a timeileaving a .zsuppl'y,.-on.:hand ready for subsequent .use.

Among; further nb'jectszare. maximumsimplicity andrinexpen'sive;constructionv and increased at;- iectivenessrin .use'.v

In the accompanying drawing formingmartiof this.-spe.'c1fi'cation, Fig.1 is a perspective view showinglagcarrying.ease or magazine and aportion of a strip of the pipe stem cleaners projecting therefrom;-Fig.2 is a-side-elevation of the structure shown in Fig. 1, a portion of thecarrying case or magazine beingbroken awayv to illustrate its.construction; Fig. 3 is .a central vertical section taken approximatelyon the line 33:.ofFig. 2; Fig. 4 is aside: view of a portion ofithe'continuousstrip of. pipe cleaners which is wound the carrying. caseor'magazine ;"Fig; 5v is azsideiviiew :oi. adetailm ortion o'f thestrip-of pipe stem cleaners. enlarged .to. more clearly show thecionstructionethereof, .andFig. fiis a vertical .secti'en. at:slightlyenlarged .scaleitaken approximately on line -6--6- of; Fig. 3,when the strip of pipe stem cleaners is omitted.

In the use of our inventionwe provide a carrying case or-magaz-ine'ofsuitable shape and-size whieh canbeeasily carried in the pocket; of asmoker --withoutobjetional protrusion and in which a strip of pipe stemcleaners is retained in readiness for instant use. The carrying case ormagazine comprises a substantially circular disk-like container having abase or body or housing member A and a readily removable cover or lid orhousing member B, telescoped together. The body A is provided with anaxially disposed, inwardly extending pin or spindle or stub shaft Illwhich is rigidly mounted upon the floor I I of base A. The peripheralside wall [2 of base A is provided with an inwardly extending wallportion M to form a longitudinally extending orifice channel throughwhich a strip of the pipe stem cleaners is guided outwardly, a portionof the cover or lid B being cut away at 2| on its outer side portion toexpose the channel and the emerging strip of pipe stem cleaners. Thehousing member B and the adjacent wall portion 22 f the housing member Aare spaced from the inwardly extending wall portion l4 whereby the pipecleaner may pass through the channel. The

longitudinal. directionmof the channel is substantially tangent; to:th'e annular. side wall I2. or. the .body sAs :Theshoulderlll isliarenoughin-advance or the actual orifice so that whena section .ot thestrip: is b-rokenaway: a short .p0rtion.-.isuleft lying in thechann'elwhere it cambezeasi'lyz engaged by hand to subsequently draw a,successitersection ofthe strip out: of the magazine.

The carrying. :case or magazine is adapted; to holda strip of. pipe stemcleaners C, thegcleaners thereof being of any suitable..constructiom;that shown andrwhichxis particularly adapted. for: .use in saidcase-being. of the. usual type hayingua twisted finewire core i5.-and abrush or, jacket I 6; the bristles of: whichare ofianyzsuitablemate-i- 1ialand;fastened by the twisted. convolutions-w of the-wire-co're. Thewire core imparts-stiffnessito the: pipestem cleaner-while the jacket;functions as-aswab-or brush to clean; the pipeistem: when a sectionofthe cleaner is reeiprocatedlithrough said-stem. 'Aconti-n'uouslengthdlof this: strip of pipe. stem cleaners is c'oile'dfreely: around thespindle wand retained in -the carrying case as shown in Fig. 3, with itsouter end threaded tangr 'itialllti through'thebrifice channel it;

'rhe strip f -pipe stem cleaners is ap ertieneu feve'ri lengths orsections l'8 suitable 'user-i-ncleanings ipe stemes 4 and 5 eachunseen-apportioning to med 'by-weaken'ing transverse-indenture orgroovessuchas t9 in the=wii= ore I5 '11 bs'eparatingor removing-asemen-er the jacke or 'brush- [eat each 'junctior'i or none between:adaeeneseetions. The cleaner; thus issembles a continuous strip offrangible sections at evenly spaced intervals throughout its lengthwhich is condensed by forming into a coil in the carrying case ormagazine as shown in Fig. 3, with its outer end threaded and projectingoutwardly through the orifice channel [4. In this position the strip ofpipe stem cleaners is brought with its outermost weakening junction intoregistry with a bearing shoulder 29 on the side wall l2 of the base A ofthe carrying case or magazine.

In use the carrying case is held in one hand with a thumb or fingerpressing the strip of pipe stem cleaners with its exposed weakening spotover and against said shoulder and the outer section is then easilybroken away and segregated ready for use leaving a portion of theremaining section of the strip resting in the orifice channel where itis exposed in readiness to be engaged and a subsequent section of thecleaner used.

When the continuous strip of pipe stem cleaners is exhausted in thecarrying case or magazine 3 a fresh strip can be easily replaced byremoving the cover B. The structure thus provided is extremely simpleand effective in use and provides the pipe smoker with a supply of pipestem cleaners which is easy and convenient to carry in readiness forinstant use.

The strip of pipe stem cleaners can be apportioned in weakened frangiblesections as described or divided by merely marking into sections atwhich points the cleaner is adapted to be segregated into sectionswithout weakening nodes.

While we have described our invention as applied to a strip of pipe stemcleaners we wish it understood that the latter is equally applicable foruse for cleaning various articles, and that said term is equallyapplicable in an equivalent sense.

In accordance with the patent statutes we have described the principlesof operation of our invention together with the construction thereofwhich we now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but wedesire to have it understood that the construction described is onlyillustrative and that the invention can be carried into practice byother means and applied to uses other than those above set forth withinthe spirit thereof and within the scope of the following claims.

We claim:

1. A pipe cleaner magazine comprising cylindrical housing members onewithin the other, one of said members housing a pin adapted to receive apipe cleaner coiled thereabout, one housing member having an inwardlyextending wall portion and the other housing member having an openingtherein adjacent the wall portion, said second housing member and anadjacent wall portion of the first housing member being spaced from theinwardly extending wall portion at said opening, whereby one end of thepipe cleaner may pass from the interior of the first housing member tothe exterior of the second housing member, and an outwardly extendingshoulder on the inwardly extending wall portion adapted to provide asevering edge whereby the pipe cleaner may be divided into shortsections.

2. A magazine for holding strips of pipe cleaners having weakenedfrangible junctions at evenly spaced distances, comprising cylindricalhousing members one within the other, a spindle extending inwardly fromone of said housing members adapted to receive a strip of pipe cleanercoiled thereabout, one housing member having an inwardly extending wallportion and the other housing member having an opening therein adjacentthe wall portion to provide a longitudinal orifice channel, said secondhousing member and an adjacent wall portion of the first housing memberbeing spaced from the inwardly extending wall portion at said opening,whereby one end of the pipe cleaner may pass from the interior of thefirst housing member to the exterior of said second housing memberthrough said longitudinal orifice channel, said channel being ofsufficient length to leave a portion of the pipe cleaner exposedtherein, and an outwardly extending shoulder on the inwardly extendingwall portion adapted to provide a severing edge, whereby the pipecleaner may be divided into short sections.

3. A pipe cleaner magazine comprising cylindrical housing members onewithin the other, one of said members housing a pin adapted to receive apipe cleaner coiled thereabout, said pipe cleaner comprising a strandwhich is marked and notched at spaced intervals throughout its length,one housing member having an inwardly extending wall portion and theother housing member having an opening therein adjacent the wallportion, said second housing member and an adjacent wall portion of thefirst housing member being spaced from the inwardly extending wallportion at said opening, whereby one end of the pipe cleaner may passfrom the interior of the first housing member to the exterior of thesecond housing member, and an outwardly extending shoulder on theinwardly extending wall portion adapted to provide a severing edgewhereby said strand may be broken off into short lengths as it iswithdrawn from said magazine.

DE WITT McC'ANN. IRVING BERLIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 347,169 Forth Aug. 10, 18861,317,187 Wallace Sept. 30, 1919 1,380,897 Gunnarson June 7, 19211,805,619 Fuller May 19, 1931 2,304,281 Riley Dec. 8, 1942 2,343,064Kjorsvik Feb. 29, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 14,499 GreatBritain A. D. 1909 16,355 Great Britain A. D. 1906 496,793 Great BritainDec. 6, 1938

